The Quest
by Kassidy10
Summary: The Gods are threatening war... again, but what else is new. It's up to a group of Greek demigods to fix it.
1. SYOC

**Hi! I'm Kassidy! I have a plot idea for an all OC submission story!**

**If you wish to participate in my story please read the rules below- if the rules are not followed your submission will be disqualified.**

**Please feel free to make it as long as you wish. I hope to give each of the main characters an introductory couple of paragraphs so I need to know about them. **

**I think I will need 3 Main Characters. I will pick the minor characters based on how many of the other submissions I think will fit the story.**

**Rules:**

**1.) I will be accepting OC submissions BY PM ONLY (before you complain, read number 2)**

**2.) Guest OC's will be accepted if I feel like I still need certain characters after I have picked my PM submissions. You also need to have a "username" to qualify.**

**3.) No primordial.**

**4.) Greek gods (major or minor) only.**

**5.) I don't want any 'perfect' characters (i.e. Mary Sues, Gary Sues)**

**6.) No Jacksons, Chases, Graces, McLeans, etc. Your character must have no relation by mortal parent to any canon characters.**

**7.) At the end of the submission, the password, bananamuffin, must be entered as proof that you read the rules.**

**8.) When a question is not relevant to your character please mark it 'N/A'**

**9.) All text in the submission that is in parenthesis should be deleted.**

**10.) Only two OC's per person [one boy, one girl]**

**11.) You do not have to enter two characters, you can pick either or if you so prefer.**

SUBMISSION FORM

*optional

Name:

*Nickname:

Age:

Gender:

Race/Ethnicity:

Sexuality preference: (ex. Straight, gay, bisexual)

Mortal parent: (give brief description)

Godly Parent:

Other Mortal Family: (Give short description)

City, State where family resides: (Ex: New York, New York)

Appearance:

Hair color/style:

Eye color:

Skin color:

Height:

Clothing at camp:

Clothing not at camp:

*Birthmarks/scars/piercings/tattoos:

Personality:

Traits: (list 5-7 traits that basically sum up your character)

Likes:

Dislikes:

Fears/Weaknesses:

Fatal Flaw: (Don't just go with loyalty—BE ORIGINAL)

Age came to camp:

Summer camper or year round:

History: (please give paragraph or so and it DOESN'T HAVE TO BE a sob story- it can be- doesn't have to be)

Powers: (Max 3, and please keep it according to the godly parent)

Weapon:

Fighting style: (ex. Aggressive, defensive, etc.)

*Weapon disguise:

*Music preference:

Hobbies/Activities:

*Additional Information

Password:

I am including my character who will be a main character

Name: Katherine Anne Rogers

*Nickname: Katie

Age: 16

Gender: Female

Race/Ethnicity: White/American

Sexuality preference: Straight

Mortal parent: Sarah Rogers White (36) a beautiful, amazing artist with brown hair and kind eyes

Godly Parent: Apollo

Other Mortal Family: Adam White (42) senator, no nonsense and business-like, with grey eyes and salt and pepper hair, slightly embarrassed by his step daughter

Carter (12) Loves soccer and video games, thinks his older, monster fighting sister is awesome

Rebecca "Becca" (10) does ballet, loves pink, idolizes her older sister

City, State where family resides: New York, New York

Appearance: She is very tall and very slender with long legs, wide shoulders, and a relatively flat chest.

Hair color/style: She has mahogany colored hair that falls in loose ringlets to the lower middle part of her back. She usually wears it in a high pony tail or in a braid.

Eye color: Golden brown

Skin tone: Very pale, almost Porcelain

Height: 5'10"

Clothing at camp: Nike shorts, Orange camp shirt (two sizes too big), and tennis shoes

Clothing not at camp: Loose fitting t-shirts and skinny jeans

*Birthmarks/scars/piercings/tattoos: She has a small scar under the outside corner of her left eye where a boy threw a rock at her when she was 6.

Personality: She is smart and witty and uses sarcasm as a defense mechanism. She's not afraid to tell someone exactly what she thinks of them. She is very direct, blunt, almost to the point of rude. She's not necessarily mean, but she will definitely tell someone exactly what she thinks, no holding back. She doesn't cry. She acts as though she is confident in everything she does even if she is actually scared. She is totally willing to take a secret to her grave.

Traits: Blunt, witty, extroverted, protective, loud

Likes: Being up high, running, arguing, fighting, shooting her bow and arrow, being the leader

Dislikes: Not knowing what to do, asking for help, awkward situations, Aries kids

Fears/Weaknesses: The dark, having to watch someone she cares for die

Fatal Flaw: She refuses to ask for help- would rather die trying to do something herself than allow someone to take over.

Age came to camp: 9

Summer camper or year round: Summer

History: She doesn't have any tragic back story. She was born in New York, New York on November 29, 1995. Her mother was an artist and Apollo, the god of arts, fell in love with her. Her mother had her when she was 20. When Katie was 4 her mother married some uppity political guy and Katie got a younger brother, then a younger sister. Katie isn't crazy about her step father, but she fiercely loves her mother, Carter, and Becca and would do ANYTHING to keep them safe.

Powers: She has a slight power where she can climb things with relative ease when others would find it really difficult or not be able to climb it at all. She hasn't ever told anyone except Chiron, but she can also heal people, though it REALLY tires her out.

Weapon: Bow and arrow (with a magical quiver that never runs out of arrows) and also sword

Fighting style: Aggressive- attack first, ask questions later

*Weapon disguise: Her bow and quiver don't turn into anything, but through the mist they look like a back pack. Her sword turns into a sun stone ring which she wears on her right hand

*Music preference: Country

Hobbies/Activities: She loves to play music (guitar and piano are her favorites). She also loves to practice archery and soccer; she is always looking for a person to practice with. She loves climbing Zeus' Fist and the lava rock wall thing at camp. She enjoys running and hiking also.

*Additional Information: She is on her high school varsity soccer team as a starting forward.

Password: Bananamuffin


	2. Cast List

So I received close to thirty character submissions and they were all amazing, unfortunately I couldn't use all of them. After some narrowing down this is the Official Cast List :

**Main Characters:**

**Katherine "Katie" Rogers (16) Daughter of Apollo **_[Mine]_

**James "Aaron" Merton (16) Son of Hades **_[Rachael tori b]_

**Owen Cross (18) Son of Zeus**_ [Rougeification]_

**Skyler "Sky" Parker (17) Daughter of Athena **_[ .Strange]_

**Charlotte "Chuck" Riley (17) Daughter of Aphrodite **_[My Other Personality]_

"**Home Base":**

_*Characters will be major in the beginning and will appear in dreams and Iris Messages throughout the story*_

**Felix Su (16) Son of Apollo **_[MyOtherPersonality]_

**Matthew "Matt" Jones (15) Son of Apollo **_[themidnightblue17]_

**Arthur Blake Nahuatl (15) Son of Athena **_[Zatara Grace]_

**Juliette Grace Monroe (15) Daughter of Poseidon **_[Zatara Grace]_

**William "Will" Miller (16) Son of Hermes **_[HaLeYbEtH]_

**Minor Character:**

_*Will be mentioned and appear in story*_

**Garreth "Gar" Ramsey (16) Son of Zeus **_[TheVaultBlocker]_

**Marian VanBeezler (19) Daughter of Hephaestus **_[Ghost132]_

**Rudolf Schmidt (17) Son of Ares **_[Hell Devil 13]_

**Laurel Bradley (17) Daughter of Demeter **_[LemonLemma]_

**Liam Harvey (16) Son of Athena **_[fangirlfor3ver]_

**Elena Scott (16) Daughter of Metis **_[Nicoleali2118]_

**Carmelita Owens (17) Daughter of Hephaestus **_[SexyRamenMonster]_

**Chelsea Ronaldo (11) Daughter of Nike **_[fangirlfor3ver]_

**Lea Daley (16) Daughter of Hermes **_[Rosemary Alysse]_

! So I'm not a big fan of when the quest comes immediately so there will be a couple of chapters with interaction between characters to build the dynamics of the group. So anyway. Chapter 1 will be up soon!

-Kassidy :)x


	3. The One with the Introductions

_(Katie)_

The sky was covered in a thick layer of grey clouds, blocking the sun's rays from reaching the car. However, nothing could diminish the delight radiating off of the teenager in the back seat. She watched the trees passing in green blurs as the family sped toward their destination. Katie could hardly contain herself. With every minute that passed she became more excited.

"Katie, can I _please_ go past the stupid gate this time!? You can't even see anything cool from there." Came Carter's voice from Katie's right. He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "You said there is a rock wall that has lava, I wanna see that!"

"And I wanna see the Pegasuses!" Added Becca, who was sitting in between Katie and Carter.

Katie shot them an apologetic half smile. "It's Pegasi, Becca, and sorry, Carter. I don't make the rules."

"_Katie…" _He whined, but she just shrugged and went back to looking out the window, willing her step father to drive faster. As far as Adam White was concerned, Katie thought, all that camp was good for was getting rid of her for three months and saving the family from embarrassment. He didn't understand how hard it was for her. She hadn't _wanted_ to embarrass him and get suspended. It just happened. What was she supposed to do, just let that that Chimera eat her homeroom? I mean please, she saved those ungrateful people. But, hey, she wasn't expelled this year and managed to keep a 3.8, so she decided to put this past school year in the 'win' column. Adam White disagreed, she knew he saw her as a problem, an obligation more than a daughter. And now to top it all of he was making this trip last twice as long as it should have. . He just didn't understand how _badly she needed to be there._

It was her eighth summer.

Her eighth wonderful, stressful, albeit slightly dangerous (but totally worth it) summer.

And after a long year of keeping her head down and trying to go unnoticed in the mortal world, she was going home.

She couldn't sit still. She had spent the past nine months getting updates via Iris Message from her friends and, although she liked being 'in the loop', it also made her completely camp-sick.

"Katherine, do you have all of your- uh- camp specific items?" Adam asked from the driver's seat. He asked the question in that tone that made Katie kinda want to punch him in the face a little.

"Yup. I have my sword and the bow and quiver that Apollo gave me." She replied pointedly.

Adam cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Good."

Katie's mother, Sarah, turned around from the passenger seat to face her daughter. "Like always, have fun and be safe!" She said as the car slowed to a stop at the bottom of the Half-Blood Hill.

"I will Mom! Love you guys!" Katie said, leaning forward to give her mom a kiss on the cheek. She hugged Becca tightly and then gave Carter a heartfelt, sisterly fist bump. She grabbed her duffle from the back of the car, walked up the hill, and crossed the barrier into her home.

She was _so_ ready for this summer.

_(Aaron)_

Aaron loved this girl, he was certainly not _in love_ with her and would probably forget about her when they were done, but for now, he loved her. He didn't particularly remember her name, he was almost positive she was a daughter of Aphrodite (they usually were). It didn't really matter that he couldn't recall her name, his mouth was otherwise occupied at the moment, as was hers, so they weren't doing much conversing. She wasn't a usual on his make out roster, but he thought he may have to find a spot for her.

This had been going on for a while until the girl finally broke away, "I have to go."

"No, no, trust me you want to be here." He said with a wink, holding her tightly to him.

She leaned in once more and gave him a light kiss. "I really have to go. My sisters are waiting. We're going tanning."

"It's cloudy out. There's no sun."

"There is in the Helios cabin, silly." She said with a little giggle. She was still lying on top of him, she clearly would have stayed if he asked, but that was _not _going to happen. She wanted him to beg her to stay, to plead, but then he would've lost all his power over her. Instead Aaron just let his head flop down onto the pillow of his bunk.

"Right. Well, go ahead then."

What's-her-name stood up and fixed her hair. She started for the door, but stopped and spun around ever so gracefully on her heel.

"This was fun! Don't forget to mention me to your mom. She's my idol! I want to be a VS Angel just like her!" She squeaked bouncing up and down slightly.

"Will do." He said, but in his tone it was clear what he meant was _"Go away now."_ Which she did.

After the Aphrodite girl left, Aaron checked his hair in the mirror. He was in the middle of running his hands through his gelled, black hair to perfect his 'I Woke Up Like This' signature spikes when the door to his cabin opened.

"Prince of Darkness, may I enter your Palace of the Doomed?"

"You're an idiot and I hate you." Replied Aaron.

"No you don't. You may have gone through half the girls at camp, but none of them compare to your best bro and you know it. I fill that void in your life that would otherwise wake you up in the middle of the night." Replied Will dramatically as he crossed the threshold of the cabin even though he hadn't been invited and could have technically been smited for doing so.

On paper, William Miller and Aaron Merton should not have been friends, but Will was the only one who could stand to be around Aaron for extended periods of time without getting truly insulted. Will was "that guy" at camp who kind of radiated friendliness and was nice to everyone and Aaron had only one real friend, Will. William really respected and valued Aaron's honesty and was the only one Aaron ever trusted with his whole story. Aaron was a total jerk and everybody knew it, but it never seemed to phase his best friend.

"So now that you're finished with your morning appointment, what's the plan?" Questioned Will, flopping down on one of the many unused beds in the Hades cabin. "Whatever it is we need to be done in time for the soccer game that Owen Cross is planning."

"Well the last of the summer campers are coming in today. We could check out the talent."

"'Fake Basketball While Actually Girl Watching' it is."

"Our favorite pass time." Agreed Aaron giving Will his famous crookedly mischievous smile.

He was _so _ready for this summer.

_(Sky)_

Sky didn't talk to many people. She didn't really like many people. Sky really liked books. They were interesting and you didn't have to talk to them. And, despite seemingly popular opinion, no one truly cared if you judged them based on appearance.

As far as people went, Sky mostly just hung out with her brothers and sisters. She also hung out with Felix, or really, Felix hung out with her. She would sit under a tree and read or write and Felix would babble on about this or that. She didn't really listen, mostly because she didn't care what he was talking about, but he didn't seem to mind, so she tolerated him. He was harmless and sitting under a tree with a friend (even one you weren't too crazy about) was better than sitting under a tree by yourself.

Her best friend only stayed at camp for the summer, so did Felix, but his school must get out really early or something, Sky thought, because Katie was getting here today and Felix had been here for almost two weeks.

Sky was under her usual tree near the top of Half-Blood Hill on the camp side, but no book today, it lay forgotten on her bed side table. She was conversing with Felix and her brother, Arthur, but not really. She was mostly scanning the hill top over and over.

Then she saw her.

Katie suddenly appeared under the marble archway as she passed through the invisible, force field gate into camp.

Sky didn't like people, but she liked Katie. She had been Sky's first, and only, best friend. When she came to camp at thirteen, she had still been a little broken. Twelve year old Katie had marched right up to her and said 'You're sad.' Not 'Are you sad?', or even 'You seem sad.' But what really sealed the deal was, in Sky's mind, Katie had been saying 'I'll help fix you.'

Sky ran up the hill to Katie and enveloped her in a tight hug, which Katie reciprocated.

I didn't matter that she had talked to a total of ten people since last summer. It didn't matter that she couldn't really hold a conversation with other people without sounding bitter. She had her best friend now and she was _so _ready for this summer.

_(Owen)_

"Owen, please demonstrate that parry and take down you just did, but slowly this time so everyone can see what you're doing." Chiron instructed. Owen did so effortlessly, making the relatively complicated movement seem easy. "Thank you, Mr. Cross. Now I would like everyone to partner up and try this technique."

Knowing that hadn't meant him, Owen walked over to the water cooler. This had always been one of his favorite classes. He dominated at hand-to-hand fighting. He knew it, too. Owen was cool. He was the Alpha of the camp, son of the King of Gods and easily the best sword fighter around.

"Chiron, I was wondering, could I bow out a little early so I could do a couple of runs on the Climbing Wall?" It wasn't necessary for him to be there, he already knew all this stuff, but had Chiron asked him to stay he would have, he was confident, not rude. However, knowing there was no real reason for him to stick around, he was granted early dismissal by the centaur.

The Climbing Wall was probably his favorite place at Camp Half Blood. Zeus' fist was taller, but less of a challenge. There was something about being thirty feet in the air with a slight chance of dying that can get your adrenaline going.

And Owen was good at it.

Since he first raced up the wall at the age of 10, dodging falling boulders and avoiding lava, he had never lost a battle. Sure, there were many who tried to dethrone the undefeated half blood, but Owen Cross beat all of them. He dominated in everything, and he would make a point to say as much if given the chance.

"Cross! Come down!"

Owen groaned. He had been making _such_ good time. He started to climb down the wall. He got about ten feet from the ground when he decided it was taking too long and pushed of the wall, doing a back flip and landing lightly on his feet.

Green eyes met gold as he ended up face to face with Katherine Rogers. And he literally meant face to face. She was on the taller side so they stood at almost the same height, which pissed him off to no end (though he would never _tell_ her that).

She had clearly just arrived, she was still carrying her duffle bag over her shoulder.

"Look, Rogers, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but why don't you go unpack before we continue the long standing tradition of you losing to me."

"Stuff it, Cross. I just wanted to make sure I was going to be a captain for the game tonight."

"Well, I haven't decided yet." He answered honestly. He wasn't really a 'planner'.

"Yeah, that's fine. I get it." Said Katie as she started to walk away.

"Wait! What did you mean by that?"

"Just that you only ever compete against me in things that you can control and know won't change, like the wall. But, it's fine. No hard feelings."

Owen wasn't stupid. He knew what she was doing, she always pulled this reverse psychology bullshit. She tried to rile him up, to make him angry, so that she could get her way. And, by the Gods, it worked every time.

"Fine. You can be captain. You can even have first pick. It won't make any difference. You're going to lose, just the same as always, because I'm the best." He said, and he meant every word.

"I guess we'll see about that won't we?"

"There is nothing to 'see' Katie. One year hasn't changed anything. I'm still number one, and you will always be second best." He said, Katie's eyes narrowing at his comment. Not waiting for a response Owen turned his attention back to the Climbing wall, not even throwing a glance over his shoulder to see if she was still there.

Three months of enraging his biggest rival and constantly besting her sounded like a good time to him. He was _so _ready for this summer.

_(Chuck)_

"If, in under thirty seconds, I can make you jump into the lake, fully clothed, you have to give me five drachma."

"Chuck leave him alone, he's new. He doesn't know better." Juliette whispered. Chuck just ignored her friend, keeping her attention on the boy.

"What if I don't jump into the lake?" Challenged the scrawny, preteen son of Hebe.

"I'll give you a kiss." Said the daughter of Aphrodite rather matter-of-factly. The boy thought about it for a second.

"On the lips, with tongue, fifteen seconds." He said, probably thinking himself very clever.

"Deal." Agreed the Irish beauty, sticking out her hand to confirm their agreement. They shook on it and she instructed her friend to start the time. She locked her blue eyes with his brown ones and let out a small sigh.

"_You're getting really hot._" She said, giving the younger half-blood a reassuring smile. "_The sun is beating down and you're starting to really feel the heat._" The son of Hebe looked up at the grey cloudy sky and squinted as if he was looking directly into the sun. He was already starting to sweat. Chuck did not break her focus. "_It would just feel _so _good to go for a dip in the lake. You're already in your bathing suit." _The boy looked down at his tshirt and shorts, but Chuck knew he was seeing a swim suit._ "Just jump right in. It would feel so wonderful."_

She had barely finished her last sentence when the boy jumped off the pier they had been standing on and into the cool lake. The shock of being suddenly submerged in water was enough to pull him out of the charmspeak induced trance.

"You shouldn't have done that. He's just a kid." Juliette said as she looked with pity at the boy still floating in the lake.

"Ugh- fine. I won't take his money." She said turning on her heel. The much shorter daughter of Poseidon followed her tall friend back to the beach. Chuck flopped down on her towel. "There's nothing going on today." She said, annoyed at her boredom.

"That's because capture the flag is tomorrow and no one wants to risk getting into trouble or getting hurt." Juliette reminded her.

"I know that. It's just stupid. We're _demigods._ We should never be bored. We can't even tan. Stupid Zeus is covering the sun." Thunder rumbled in the distance as Chucked stuck her middle finger out at the sky.

"He's going to smite you."

"I'd like to see him try. At least it would give me something to do."

"There's that soccer game later that Owen is putting on. And if you really wanted to tan we could go to the Helios cabin."

"That's true. And no way are we going there. All of my sisters are there and I just cannot deal right now. Come on. Let's go find Owen- I wanna make sure he picks me for his team." She said wrapping the towel around her flawless, bathing suit clad body. Chuck ran her hands through her blue streaked, white blonde hair, which was covered in sand and lake water and still managed to look flawless. This past year had been so uneventful. She was _so _ready for this summer.


	4. The One With The Game

**So I know a lot of people were expecting a soccer game, but I skipped the actual game part because **_**do you know how hard it is to write sports? To make a reader aware of 12 people at a time….. **_**I really tried guys! Im sorry! But there will be an actual Capture the Flag game in the next chapter! Scout's honor! (Ok so I wasn't in the Scouts since I'm a girl and everything, but, for real, I promise)**

_***WARNING*WARNING* There is underage drinking in this chapter, please don't complain to me about that- if you feel the need to complain about something with this story, the grammar and spelling are much worse.**_

In an unexpected turn of events, Katie was running ahead of schedule and not dreadfully and hopelessly late. She had already unpacked all of her clothing and weapons and was currently slipping her feet into her tennis shoes. There was no hope for her hair, there never was, so she ended up just pulling her tangled ringlets into a single braid down her back. The slight red tint of her mahogany colored hair made her faded orange camp shirt look even more off colored and pitiful. It had become a tad distressed looking over the years, but it just added character. The unmistakable air of excitement lingered as she placed her bow and quiver under her pillow. She felt almost naked without them, but they would have made running around a field very difficult. So she settled for her sword- in ring form- on her finger.

She was ready, and she was determined.

"You look like you're about to lead an army into battle with that expression." Said a voice from behind her. In her intense concentration and preparation, Katie had failed to realize that someone had joined her. Arthur Nahuatl, son of Athena, stood there, leaning against the door frame of the cabin.

"How do you know I'm not?" Katie asked, arms crossed, but smiling.

"With you, there's no telling." Arthur laughed. He walked toward her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Katie, following his lead, wrapped her arms around Arthur's neck and leaned into the hug. Finally they broke apart.

"I missed you." She said, arms still resting on his shoulders.

He kissed her on the forehead, "I've missed you so much."

"I have to go to the soccer game now." Katie sighed, sounding truly upset over it.

"I'll walk you." Arthur offered. Together they exited the Apollo cabin and headed toward the training grounds that would double as the soccer field.

"You could play. I bet we would be on the same team. I have an 'in' with one of the captains, you know."

"You know it's not really my thing. I'll be your personal cheerleader though." 

"Well, cheerleaders _are_ hot."

"Really? You think so? I have always been more into soccer players."

"Well how fortuitous."

"Nice word choice."

"Yeah, some nerd taught it to me." Katie said, poking Arthur in the ribs. 

"_You guys are just so cute!" _Came a voice, mockingly. By this point, Katie and Arthur had made it to the clearing where people had already begun to gather. Aaron was standing near the couple, hand sarcastically pressed to his chest over his heart.

"No one asked you, Merton." Spat Arthur, eyes narrowing and arm placed protectively over Katie's shoulders (which she quickly shrugged off).

"Yeah, well no one ever even talks to you, but that never stops you from throwing in your two sense about everything, thinking you're just so smart with your useless facts." Sneered the son of Hades. Arthur and Katie both opened their mouths to respond, most likely in the form of raised voices and cursing, but they were cut off.

"Leave him alone, Aaron. At least a girl is willing to be seen with him. All of the ones you hook up with pretend not to know you in public." Said Chuck, walking up to the little group.

"If you want to be one of those girls, Chuck, all you have to do is ask. I have an opening on Tuesday afternoons at four-ish." Said Aaron, winking at the pretty blonde. Arthur laughed at this and Katie rolled her eyes at the absurdity of such a suggestion.

"I would," Chuck said, pretending to mull the thought over, "if it wasn't for one little thing, you have the wrong parts for my taste. You're an outie where I prefer there to be an innie."

"You'll come around one day, Chuck Riley."

"Yeah right." She scoffed. "You have a better chance of getting together with Katie than with me."

Katie pulled a face that suggested she was extremely repulsed by even the mere thought of such an occurrence, much to Arthur's relief.

"Ooh! That's your 'Aaron' face." Said Sky, who had just walked up to stand next to Katie.

"I have one of those, too. Mine just has a little more disgust and a little less anger." Chuck said seriously, although it was clear she was holding back a laugh.

"Gods, you are all insufferable." Aaron huffed, truly getting angry.

Owen, probably on purpose to avoid an all-out fight, chose this moment to announce the beginning of the game. The players congregated to the center of the field and the spectators departed to the 'sidelines'. Sky gave Katie a 'good luck' thumbs up and headed towards the viewer designated area with her half-brother, Arthur.

The remaining campers on the field were quite a diverse group. Katie joined Owen who was standing at the front of the crowd.

"All right," He said in his naturally authoritative tone, "Katie has first pick."

Katie looked over the group. Chelsea Ronaldo, the little 11 year old daughter of Nike, stood at the front with a huge smile on her face, eagerly awaiting a chance of competition. She would make a good player, Katie thought, but maybe not a first pick. Chuck stood off to the side near Owen. They had a truly strange friendship, but there was zero chance that the daughter of Aphrodite would ever be on anyone's team unless it was Owen's. Aaron Merton was standing near the back, still looking a little pissed off. There was no way Katie was going to pick him, not for all of the drachma in Olympus. It didn't matter how nice his hair was or how stunningly piercing his blue eyes were. Katie shook the thought out of her head. Then, her eyes landed on the son of Hermes standing next to Aaron. Will Miller was tall and fast, he would make a good forward, and he wouldn't hog the ball too much.

"Will." Katie said, giving him a smile. Will gave Aaron an apologetic slap on the back and jogged over to stand next to Katie.

Owen didn't contemplate his decision long. "Chuck."

"Chels." Katie said, gesturing toward the little girl in the front. Chelsea ran up to Katie and gave her a big hug.

It was Owen's turn again. He scanned the crowd. He could pick his half-brother, Garreth. Gar was an excellent soccer player, but they clashed heads often. They both liked to be in charge, and Owen wasn't big on sharing that position. Instead he focused in on Marian. She was a strong, 6'1" daughter of Hephaestus. Her height and muscular build slowed her down a little, but she had an impressive reach. She would be an excellent goalie, he thought.

"Marian."

"Garreth." Katie said, immediately after.

"Aaron." Responded Owen, just as quickly. Aaron was an ass, but he was a football player, too, meaning he was athletic. On top of that, he was relatively quick on his feet. Owen knew Katie wouldn't have picked him in the first few rounds out of spite, but he didn't want to press his luck.

"Rudolf." Katie said, gesturing to the intense looking son of Ares. She didn't know much about him, but she knew he looked focused and had seen him playing soccer before, so that was enough.

"Juliette." Owen chose. Juliette was tiny, almost as short as eleven year old Chelsea, but she was fierce and a little scary for such a small person, thought Katie. She also had these terrifying green lines and dots on her face that seemed to glow and Katie had never really received an explanation for those and they were a little unnerving.

"Matt." Katie said, giving her half-brother a little head nod. She liked Matt, they were siblings and everything, but he was just so _happy_ and she was just so _not_. Nonetheless, she gave him a smile when he jogged to join her.

"Lea." Owen called the Hermes girl over to join him. "Alright, figure out your formation since we only have six on each team and then we'll do a coin flip to decide who gets the ball first."

The two teams walked to opposite ends of the clearing.

"Lea is a better soccer player than Matt. Matt is more basketball." Will said to Katie under his breath.

"I know, but Matt is still good, and I need a favor from him later." She whispered back. She then raised her voice so that everybody could hear her. "Alright, so I am going to be left forward and Will I was thinking you could be center."

"Could I be right forward?" Chelsea asked excitedly.

"Sure, and I was thinking that Gar could be goalie. I need you to block _any shot Owen takes_. And that leaves Matt and Rudolf. I was thinking Matt would be Midfielder and Rudolf would be our last line of defense as a Fullback." Everybody nodded that they understood.

Across the field, Owen was assigning positions as well. "First the forwards, I'm center, Chuck is left, and Juliette is right. Our Halfback will be Lea and Fullback is Aaron. That leaves Marian for the goalie. If everyone does what they are supposed to this will work. I don't want to see a single shot on our goalie. No one gets past you, Merton. Everyone got it? Good." When winning was on the line, Owen didn't mess around.

The players from each team went to their designated areas. The six forwards met in the middle.

Owen raised his voice so everyone across the grounds could hear him. "The game is going to last 30 minutes- two 15 minute halves. There is absolutely no demigod powers allowed. Ok, call it, Rogers."

Producing a quarter from his pocket, Owen flipped it in the air.

"Heads." Katie called. Owen grabbed it in the air and revealed it was heads.

_(Later)_

"Oh, really, the wind just _happened _to be on your side the whole time? Even when we switched sides?" Katie accused.

"Come one, I can't even do that. I can harness lightning though. Here let me show you, stand still for a second." Owen replied feigning seriousness, although he was clearly thrilled to have won.

"Nobody likes a sore winner." Said Chuck who was ridding piggy back style on Owen's back. Katie stuck her tongue out at Owen. "And nobody likes a sore loser either, Katie. Gods, listen to me, I'm sounding responsible. You two need to pull yourselves together because me sounding like this cannot continue." She said looking surprised at herself.

The two were walking back towards the main part of camp together. Although a couple of onlookers had hung around, the game had gone into 'overtime' and had run pretty long causing quite a few half-bloods to head back before it had ended.

"I'm going to run ahead, I don't want to wait in a long line for dinner." Said Chelsea, waving goodbye and jogging ahead of the group. The older demigods waved to the young girl and then smirked at each other. They weren't going to dinner. It had been a tradition at Camp Half-Blood for as long as anybody could remember to celebrate after sporting events. The campers who participated looked at it as a positive, allies and opponents coming together. Not everyone knew about it, you had to be invited by someone who was already there, and you couldn't be invited until you were at least 14, though usually it was 15.

Instead of following the path toward the Mess Hall, the group veered to the left, heading deeper into the forest. If one didn't know where the group was going, it would have looked as if they were just wandering, but they were following a path, it was hard to find. An orange stripe was painted on a tree branch here, or a rock there, like road markers. Eventually the campers came to a small, circular clearing around twelve feet in diameter. There were wards and weird looking designs on the trees surrounding the clearing. When they were first invited, the older campers had told them it blocked Gods from knowing they were there. They had no reason to not believe it since no one had ever found them before. In the center of the circle, surrounded by small rocks, was the fire pit still with the ashes of the last fire that had burned. In a circle around the fire were logs, boulders, and even some folding chairs that some camper, probably a Hermes kid, most likely stole from the Mess Hall or the Big House.

The demigods each found a seat somewhere in the circle. Lea Daley sat in one of the folding chairs, Garreth took the chair to her right. To his right Felix, son of Apollo, had claimed a stump, and Matt sat in the only other chair next to his half-brother. Then was Arthur, Katie, and Skyler, sharing a rather large log, then Juliette and Chuck each on their own boulder. Owen sat on the stump to Chuck's right, leaving Will and Aaron on a smaller log, completing the circle, with Lea to Aaron's right.

"So who is going to start the fire? Where is Marian?" Asked Lea, looking around for the pyrokinetic.

"She bailed. This really isn't her thing. Rudolf left too. He didn't want to chance anything happening with Capture the Flag being tomorrow." Said Felix.

"He never talks when he's here anyway. The _real _question is who brought the goods?" Chuck questioned, eyes scanning the circle suspiciously. Will held up a six pack in each hand as Lea pulled out another two from seemingly nowhere. Owen let out a whistle and Aaron slapped Will on the back.

"I am always so impressed with you Hermes kids. I mean, really though, how did you even get that?" Asked Arthur in awe. He really was impressed. Unlike most other Athena kids, Arthur had a thing for breaking the rules. He went out of his way to do so. His eyes lit up at the thought of doing something with this much risk.

"Family secret." Said Will popping the top on his can and passing the others around. Everyone took a can besides Felix, Sky, and Garreth. Felix was too responsible, Sky was convinced it would kill all of her brain cells, and Garreth was too good.

"Guys, just be careful! Don't go overboard, it would be a stupid way for a demigod to die." Felix said worriedly, always watching out for everyone. He never participated in the activities of these gatherings. He was more there to make sure people didn't kill each other. Sharp weapons and lowered inhibitions did not make for good outcomes.

Katie looked over at Matt with a raised eyebrow, silently asking if he had held up his end of their agreement. Matt nodded and produced a paper bag that had been rolled up in his sweatshirt. He handed it to Katie who pulled out a rather large bottle of clear, liquid fire.

"Ooh, Rogers plays hard." Said Aaron approvingly, eyeing the bottle. "How'd you manage that Jones?" He asked Matt with grudging respect.

"Family secret." He said with a smirk, popping open the can that had just been handed to him.

Katie had taken two gulps of the bitter liquid when Chuck decided she had waited long enough.

"Ok, don't hog it. Pass it around!" Katie handed it to Sky who took a tiny sip and gave it to Juliette how took a shot and passed it to her right. And it kept going around and around.

As the night went on, the temperature of the air fell. Despite it being summer, the storms overhead kept the camp at a cool degree at night, but the teens who were in the clearing could not feel the chill, and it wasn't only because of the fire. By the time the flames started to die out only eight campers were left.

"Ok, ok.. I got one. _Hiccup_. Never have I ever been skinny dipping." Said Lea who was pretty gone by this point. Chuck, Juliette, Owen, and Will all raised their drinks to their lips took quick gulp.

"Ok, I think that's enough for you tonight." Said Garreth, taking the bottle away from Lea and helping her up. "I'll walk you back." He said to her half holding her up as they left the clearing together.

"Ok, it's my turn." Chuck slurred, she took a swig from the now almost empty bottle as she thought. "Ne'er have I e'er hooked up wif a Athena kid." Katie, Owen, and Aaron all drank. "Tha's so weird! Do they, like, tell you facts while yer kissin?" She asked, looking genuinely concerned.

"Alright, I'm heading back. Why don't you come with me, Chuck?" Suggested Juliette. She, being more on the mature side than most of her friends, hadn't drank very much all night.

"Ima come, too." Said Owen, swaying as he stood up.

"I guess I'm comin wif ya." Said Katie, giggling at nothing. She and Aaron both stood up and followed their friends back to camp. "Psst! Psst! Aaron!" She said, not at all whispering. "We should go 'n try to ride a Peg'sus!" She said, wide eyed, like it was the best idea she had ever had. And Aaron whole heartedly agreed.

Katie and Aaron took a right instead of following their friends back to their cabin, however arriving at the stables, they found a problem.

"It's locked." Said Katie dejectedly, looking as though her heart had been broken. She sat down on the ground in front of the barn door and put her head in her hands.

"Shhhh! S'okay!" Said Aaron, sitting next to Katie and wrapping his arms around her. "S'okay." He tried to assure the distressed girl. Neither of the two would ever truly be able to recall who instigated it, but next thing either of them knew, their lips were pressed together. It was Katie who finally broke away minutes later.

"Ima go to bed." She said, standing and heading back to her cabin, leaving Aaron sitting in front of the stables.

**Hey! I hope you guys liked it! Let me know what you thought, and what you think will happen, in the comments! Also the next chapter is Capture the Flag so it'll be fun! I'm actually leaving the country tomorrow for vacation, but if I'll still type the chapter! If I can find internet I'll post it, if not it will be posted next Friday when I get back**

**Everybody should check out Rougeification's amazing fic, 'Olympians: Son of Apollo'! It's a really awesome, well written story!**

**Kassidy :)x**


	5. The One With Capture The Flag

_(Morning)_

The camp was abuzz with excitement. Capture the flag was the activity most people looked forward to for months. It had everything a demigod could ask for. There was strategy, fighting, magic, and glory. Captains spent months recruiting and negotiating with other cabins, trying to build the best team possible. There was nothing better than winning. Rumors were whispered around camp, mostly amongst the younger kids, that the person who ultimately brought the flag back to their own side sometimes got presents or even a visit from their godly parent in congratulations. The campers had been talking about the game for weeks, and today was the day, meaning everyone was discussing which team they believed would be victorious.

The normal din of the Mess Hall amplified to a dull roar.

This made for a very unhappy group of teenagers sitting together in a corner. The four campers sat at a table, as far away from everyone else as they could be, wincing at every small noise. Will brought his hands up to rub his temples, trying to alleviate some of the severe throbbing and discomfort. Lea had her head on the table, taking strained breathes as if every inhale hurt her. Owen pushed his food even farther away from him, his face slightly green. Aaron wore sunglasses despite the overcast skies and his hands were clenched into fists as if in a great deal of pain.

"Hey, guys!" Matt said in his usual chipper tone as he sat down. He was met with angry grunts and glares. "Oh!" He said realizing his mistake. "Sorry, I didn't realize you guys were still _hung over._" He said the last word in a hushed voice.

"Yeah, we are." Said Will through gritted teeth. "And how exactly are you not?" He asked accusingly. Though usually an easygoing guy, he was not in the best of moods.

"Well, I did leave before you last night, so I wasn't as bad anyway, but it's mostly because Felix is my brother." Said Matt as if that explained everything.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Snapped Lea, whose patience was at an all time low.

"You don't know?" Matt asked surprised. "I just figured everyone did. I mean Chuck stopped by our cabin first thing this morning."

"If you don't explain what you are talking about in five seconds or less, I will rip off your arms and knock you unconscious with them." Aaron threatened, no humor in his tone.

"Right, ummm- well everyone knows Felix can heal external injuries, but he can also heal internal injuries as well." He was met with four blank, slightly irritated stares. "He can cure hangovers." Matt finished, over enunciating each syllable.

"Where. Is. He?" Asked Owen, grabbing Matt by the collar of his t shirt.

"In the arena." He said, eyes wide as saucers.

_(As that was happening) _

Felix was awful with a sword. If he had him a bow and arrow and he could hit a moving target nine times out of ten, but put him in a sword match with a seven year old and he would probably lose.

Not only was Katie not using her dominant hand, but she was going easy on him, too. Chuck stood nearby yelling out 'helpful' comments.

"Now side step to the left! No, not your left, my left. Now duck. Good! Parry! Ooh, that looked like it hurt. Shake it off."

"Ok! You know what? I think I need a break." Said Felix, breathing heavily. He set the sword on the ground and laid down on his back, fingers checking the pulse in his neck. Katie walked over to Chuck who was pinching the bridge of her nose and shaking her head slightly.

"So, I don't think this is going well." Sighed Katie.

"Well, at least he's trying... I mean, he's _failing_, but he's _trying_." Offered Chuck.

"I think it's time to switch to archery." Panted Felix, still lying on the ground.

Katie felt her sword shrink in her hand as it turned back into her sun stone ring. The ring sat on her right ring finger. It had been given to her by her mother. She had never thought about where her mother had found it, but her mom was relatively clear sighted in respect to the mist, so she must have figured out some way.

The three half bloods had only shot a few arrows before they were interrupted.

"Felix, what is this about you being the magical hangover cure?" Will's voice called from behind them. The three teens turned to discover four of their friends stalking toward them squinting and looking annoyed.

"Well, I wouldn't say 'magical'." Answered Felix humbly.

"You don't have to say anything, just wave your hands and do your thing." Commanded Owen. Tiny, five foot four Felix reached up to place his hand on the much taller boy's head. He closed his eyes, concentrating.

"Aaron is staring at you." Chuck whispered to Katie. She was right, Aaron had moved his sunglasses up to rest on his head and was eyeing Katie. His left eye was slightly squinted, tugging his mouth up into a cocky grin that, she supposed, some girls might consider to be attractive.

"That's weird. It's probably nothing with him." Said Katie thoughtfully. Chuck just shrugged and turned her attention back to Felix and Owen. The taller boy's eyes had rolled back in his head and gave him an eerie look about him, but the tension lines were slowly diminishing. It was apparent by the look on Owen's face that whatever Felix was doing was working.

"I'll catch up with you guys later." Katie called over her shoulder, making her way toward the exit.

"Don't forget about our thing later back at the cabin." Felix yelled after her. Katie waved her hand in acknowledgement and exited the arena. She walked somewhat aimlessly for a couple of minutes, eventually finding herself in front of the Athena Cabin. She knocked on the front door.

Arthur opened it.

"Hi." She said, smiling at him. He didn't respond. He just pulled her into a tight hug, kissing her briefly before guiding her inside and closing the door. She heard the groan of a one of his siblings from somewhere nearby, but that was the last thing on her mind. With Arthur's arms securely around her, Katie relaxed into his chest. In this moment of bliss and simplicity, it was hard to believe that things between them were only slightly less than complicated.

Arthur had come to camp the year before, and Katie had instantly taken a liking to him. He was smart, as were all children of Athena, but he wasn't boring like the majority of them. He once told her that the only reason that there were rules was so they could be broken. Entropy, she remembered, is what Arthur had called it. He loved teaching her, and others, things. And although he was a nerd by intellectual standards, he didn't look it. He was always dressed ever so dapperly. His hair coiffed, cuffs folded and pressed, the tan of his skin was always perfectly even.

Not everything was good, though. He also had a way with words, not a virtuous kind either. He could twist a lie, making it seem like the truth. Katie had watched him talk their way out of trouble countless times, often leaving the councilors confused. It wasn't like charm speak, it was something darker, almost a little scary. It didn't matter, Katie told herself, Arthur was fun and just a little bit dangerous.

She liked that about him. A lot.

The two had grown rather close over the previous summer. They were each other's first kiss. She recalled, fondly, the memory. It had been after curfew. Arthur had come to the window beside Katie's bunk, inviting her on an after-hours walk. He had stopped their stroll on the beach, telling her how beautiful she was. It had been innocent and sweet.

But the summer had ended. And Katie had gone home, leaving Arthur at camp. She had been worried that he would have moved on, or perhaps was worried that she had. Yet, standing there, in his embrace, she was no longer worried.

"Last night was fun." She murmured, cheek resting on his chest. Her nose touched the fabric of his fitted camp shirt; it smelled like him.

"Yeah, it was." He said releasing her, somewhat reluctantly, from his arms. "It's a shame that I had to leave early. I'm just not really a night owl. Ironic, I know." He said, that little twinkle she loved so much glittering in his eyes.

Katie took a step backwards, away from him.

"You- you left early?" She said, brow furrowed in attempt to recollect the hazy details of the previous night.

"Yup. I guess I just couldn't hang." He said, laughter in his voice, but Katie wasn't paying attention.

He left early? He left? _Early?_ No, she was almost positive that it had been later in the night that it had happened. That the kiss had happened. The most wonderful kiss she had ever experienced. The one she shared with Arthur. It was with Arthur. She was sure.

Mostly.

She willed the details of the past night to come to her. She remembers the hardness of his chest through his shirt, the moon turning the end of his black hair silver, his striking baby blue eyes seeing not only her, but her soul, and-

Wait, Katie realized, Athena kids had gray eyes. She looked up at Arthur just to double check. Her golden eyes looked into his steely ones.

Oh, no, no, no.

"Katie, are you okay? You look a little ill. Here, sit down." Arthur instructed, watching her with concern. But Katie didn't hear him; her brain was going a mile a minute as she pieced everything together.

There was only one person she knew of with eyes like that, and he had been weirdly staring her down not fifteen minutes before.

"Shit." She said under her breath. She peered at Arthur, guilt consuming every fiber of her being.

"Katie? Are you alright? You're so pale." Skyler, who, upon having just walked into her cabin, noticed her friend's wide eyes and sickly coloring, jumped into action. She placed a hand on the forehead of the Apollo child. "You don't have a fever." She pursed her lips. "Come on, let's get some fresh air." Sky insisted, helping her best friend to her feet. Arthur moved as if he planned on going with them.

"No!" Katie said, perhaps too forcefully. "Stay here. Get ready for Capture the Flag tonight. I'll be fine. Promise!" She said in a tone she hoped sounded happy and normal. She quickly gave Arthur a peck on the cheek and practically pulled Sky out the door.

When they were a safe distance from the cabin and Katie was sure there was no one near enough to be overheard, she turned to her friend.

"Sky, I did something bad, like really bad."

_(Capture the Flag)_

The two teams stood at the entrance to the forest, one on either side of the river that split the woodland in half. On the left stood the red team Owen stood at the head of the group, giving a pep talk. He was waving his hands dramatically, clenching and unclenching his fists as he spoke of victory. His armor fit his broad shoulders and chest perfectly, and, although sporting what looked like a red broom out the top, his helmet didn't make him look ridiculous like most people, he looked terrifying. Next to him stood his younger, but taller, brother. They both had the same chiseled jaw line and stood with the same air of arrogance, but that was about where the similarities stopped. Gar, being younger, was always a little in the shadow of his older half-brother, not to say that Garreth wasn't a great half-blood in his own respects. It was just, unfortunately for him, his brother was _the _Owen Cross.

On Owen's other side was Chuck, helmet in her left hand and sword sheathed on her hip. Her face looked determined and ready for a fight. Chuck was wearing old, beaten up armor and her hair looked like it hadn't been brushed in a couple days, and she still looked flawless.

Standing near Chuck, was Katie and Matt, both were in gear and both were paying very little attention to Owen. The Apollo and Zeus cabins were almost always on the same team, which meant that they had heard Owen's speech thousands of times. Katie was wearing her helmet, her hair snaking out from underneath in the form of a braid down her back. She had her bow and quiver slung over her back and her sword in her hand. Matt was tapping on his blue armband, his ADD flaring up as the anticipation grew.

The son of Ares, Rudolf, looking intense and frightening in his bronze armor, stood not far off. Chelsea, the tiny daughter of Nike, whose helmet was about a size too big and kept falling in front of her eyes, hanging on to every word that Owen spoke. Laurel, daughter of Demeter, looked ready for a fight, bow in hand and large knife strapped to the outside of her thigh. Juliette, a Poseidon kid, was standing near the river. She had a sword sheathed on her back and she was twisting her ring on her finger.

The blue team was captained by Will, his usual good natured voice taking on a serious edge as he spoke to his team. Lea, another child of Hermes, stood near him. Her dark brown skin almost the same color as the leather grip on the hilt of her sword. The bill of a sun visor jutted out from under her helmet.

Next to Lea, towering over her, were Marian and Carmelita, daughters of Hephaestus. Carmelita held a broad sword inset with a large ruby, and Marian was tossing her menacing looking hammer back and forth between her hands.

Tiny little Elena was next. She looked as though she couldn't hurt a fly, but, being a daughter of Metis, she was able to control others, like charm speak. Next, Liam, Arthur, and Sky, children of Athena, listening intently to the strategy Will had started to lay out.

The last member on the team was Aaron. He looked bored, like he just came for the fighting and didn't need all the planning and strategizing. He was flipping his dagger around in his hands. The sun should have reflected off of the shiny black surface, but instead it was as if there were no sun at all, like the dagger was made of darkness.

Finally the two captains had finished and Chiron raised his arms.

"Good luck to both teams. Felix and I will be only a short ways away should anyone get injured and need assistance. Remember, though you are playing foes, you are all friends. You have fifteen minutes to hide your flags and get into position."

Both teams turned and ran into their half of the woods.

_(Team Red)_

"Ok, so the flag is going to go on Zeus' Fist and-" Owen instructed as he ran.

"We always put it there. They know exactly where to go every single time." Katie argued.

"It'll work. It always works." Insisted Owen.

"No. It won't. Right now they have the upper hand. They know our plan. And you're too stubborn to realize that _you are going to lose._"

"It _is _the first place they would look." Agreed Chuck. Owen abruptly stopped running.

"Fine where do you think we should put it?" Owen questioned, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"If we put it near the river, I could protect it." Offered Juliette. Owen reluctantly nodded, coming up with another plan.

"Okay, Jules, take the flag, put it near the river so you can protect it, but not too close to the border. Gar go with her. You can help defend. Go." Juliette picked up the flag and headed farther up the river, Garreth right behind her. "Katie, Chuck, and I will be the Offense Team. That means, Chels and Laurel, you two go in the opposite direction. Make as much noise as you can without being overly obvious. Rudolf and Matt, you guys are going to go up and 'protect' Zeus' Fist. We're changing the plan, it'll throw them off." He said as if trying to convince himself. He looked around, making sure everyone knew their jobs. "Alright, let's do this."

_(Team Blue)_

"Okay, so we'll have five people defending the flag and four people to go get the Red Team's flag from Zeus' Fist." Said Will.

"I don't know. Katie said she's been getting annoyed with Owen for always having the same plan. Knowing her, I bet she would try to convince him to change it." Sky reasoned.

Will bit his bottom lip, deciding his next move. "Owen is stubborn. He may not agree to a strategy change."

"You could make two offensive teams. One to check Zeus' Fist and one to do a sweep of their side." Liam offered, his British accent making everything he said sound even smarter. Will nodded his head at this.

"So, instead, we'll leave Aaron, Elena, and Sky here to guard the flag. Marian, Arthur, and I will check Zeus' Fist and, if it's not there, circle back to check the left side of their territory. Lea, take Carmelita and Liam and cover the right side." Everyone murmured their understanding and then split up.

_(The Game)_

Will stepped gingerly as he continued forward. As a son of Hermes, he was blessed with light footedness meaning he made almost no noise at all. Marian was not so lucky. The daughter of Hephaestus stomped behind him. He turned around to look at her, not angrily, but sternly. She gave him a sheepish look and a shrug. William signaled for Marian and Arthur to continue moving forward. Before long they were able to see Zeus' Fist. Standing on top of the pile of rocks were Rudolf and Matt. They were scanning the woods below, but almost lazily, as though it weren't a big deal. Will signaled for the group to back up.

"I don't think it's up there." He whispered to the others. "There are people up there, but they don't look like their guarding anything. I think it's a distraction."

"Let's head back, we can do a sweep after we get back to the river." Added Arthur.

The three turned to leave. _CRACK! _Marian had set her foot down on a larger, rather dry, stick that had broken in half, possibly giving away their position in the process. Will turned around to see as if the two demigods had heard. Sure enough they were climbing down the heap of stones. Will drew his sword. Behind him Arthur tapped his watch which turned into a two samurai looking swords called katannas.

With a small _thud_ the two Red Team members landed on the ground. Will, Marian, and Arthur were waiting with their weapons ready.

"There are three of us and only two of you. We'll let you leave if you go right now. It's not like you're even guarding anything." Will negotiated. Hardly a beat had gone by and the son of Ares raised his sword and jumped at the captain of the Blue Team. Will deflected the blow. Matt turned on Arthur, swinging his sword at the other boy's chest, which Arthur parried. Marian moved to assist Will against Rudolf. She swung her hammer, hitting the son of Ares squarely in the breastplate. He staggered backwards, wind knocked out of him. Only phased for a second, he moved forward again.

On the other side of the forest, Chelsea and Laurel were scampering and weaving through the trees. They would step on a twig here, or crunch a fallen leaf there. Trying to attract attention from the Blue Team. After a little while of not being followed, they decided to double back and return to the river to help guard the flag.

Owen, Katie, and Chuck could see the blue flag. It was in a little clearing on top of a small hill. Not high enough up to be obvious, just enough to have the uphill advantage. Owen motioned for Katie and Chuck to go up the hill while he went around the back. Katie waited until Owen was a decent distance away from them before she shot two arrows. One wedged itself into a tree, an inch away from Aaron's head and the other planted itself firmly into the ground between Sky's feet. She had hit exactly where she meant to. She returned the bow so it was hanging from her back and drew her sword. She and Chuck walked out from the trees.

"Owen sent two girls as his main offensive attack?" Aaron scoffed.

"Well, Will left three girls to guard his flag." Chuck sneered. Aaron glared at her and gripped his dagger tighter. Katie and Chuck were about halfway up the hill.

"_Stop." _Said Elena who, until this moment, Katie had hardly even registered. _"It's just a stupid flag. You don't even really want it, do you?"_ Katie felt her head move side to side in response. _"That's what I thought. So why don-"_

"It's charmspeak. Don't listen to her. Focus on something else." Said Chuck. Like Katie, she had stopped in her tracks, but her face was scrunched up in concentration. She took a difficult step forward.

Elena scoffed. "Charmspeak? Please! My mother is Metis, much more powerful than Aphrodite." She said, her voice full of pride. With an almost indiscernible smile Chuck realized that Elena was no longer 'persuading' them. She couldn't use her power when she was angry.

"You can tell yourself that, but everybody knows it's really the same thing." Chuck goaded, taking another cautious step forward. Behind her, Katie was doing the same.

"My mother is so much more powerful than yours, meaning I'm much more powerful than you, you self-obsess-" There was a _clang _and Elena crumpled to the ground. Standing behind her was Owen, shield out in front of him.

"Did you just hit her in the head with your shield?" Asked Sky incredulously. Owen shrugged and reached for the flag. Aaron knocked his hand away from the pole. A heated battle broke out between the son of Zeus and the son of Hades. They had never liked each other all that much and every time they got a chance to fight, it ended bloody and violently.

Elena had started to wake up. Chuck put the tip of her sword at Elena's throat. "If you even make a sound you'll regret it." Elena looked up at her, doubt in her eyes. It was clear she believed the daughter of Aphrodite was bluffing. "Maybe I am bluffing, but you've heard stories about me. Besides, it's common for accidents to happen in this game. Do you really want to chance it?" Before Elena could answer, Chuck jammed the end of her sword handle into Elena's temple, knocking her unconscious.

Sky and Katie each had their sword drawn and were circling each other.

"You know how this usually ends up, Sky." Taunted Katie. Sky rolled her eyes at her annoying friend. She swung her sword at Katie's arm. Katie side stepped the strike and hit Sky's ribs with the flat side of her sword. Katie winked at her friend. "You're gonna get what's coming to ya, Skyler." Said Katie seriously, though there was a humorous edge in her voice. Katie lowered her sword when she saw Sky's face. All the blood had drained from it and her eyes were glassed over as if she wasn't really there. She dropped her sword and put her hands over her face. "Sky- are you oka-" Katie started.

"Katie, Chuck, I got the flag! Let's go!" Called Owen, flag grasped in his hand. He had a bloody nose and a pretty bad gash in his forehead. His jaw was already starting to bruise. Aaron was on the ground bleeding and taking shallow breaths near Owen's feet. Katie didn't even look at him. She was crouched next to Sky, who had fallen to her knees.

"It's okay. You'll be okay. Please, Sky, look at me." Katie begged her, but Sky's hands were pressed firmly to her face.

"She's fine. She'll be here when you get back. After we win." Owen insisted. Katie looked at him like he had two heads.

"She is _clearly_ not fine." Katie said. Owen looked at her like she was being absurd. "I can't just leave someone, Owen. That's not who I am." She said turning her back to him. Owen let out a breath and broke into a sprint toward the lake. Chuck shot Katie an apologetic look before following him.

Owen was surprised how many people were at the river. He and Chuck broke through the trees, flag in hand, and took in the scene before them. Chelsea and Laurel were teamed up against Liam. Garreth was standing between the flag and Lea, battling ferociously. Juliette was spraying water at Carmelita and Marian, both using their pyrokinesis to evaporate the water before it hit them. Will was fighting Matt, swords clashing against each other. Rudolf and Arthur were in combat, though Arthur had lost one of his two swords and was admittedly being overtaken by the son of Ares.

Owen paused for barely a moment to take it all in. He raced toward the river, dodging swords along the way, finally crossing. He looked up to see the blue flag turn red. He had won. Again.

A horn pierced through the sound of clashing metal. Chiron galloped down from a nearby hill, horn pressed to his lips.

"Congratulations to the Red Team for their victory." He called. "It was a great game. Everyone get cleaned up before dinner. Also, one last announcement: The campfire sing-a-long tonight is mandatory for all campers." He glanced around at the confused faces of the campers. Campfires were never mandatory. "All will be explained tonight." He said, galloping away.

That was weird, thought Owen, it must be something really big. He didn't dwell on it for long. He was too busy reveling in yet another victory. He looked at the storm clouds above him and silently dedicated his win to his father. He turned his attention back to his team who had started to crowd around him.

All of the sudden the ground began to shake. Campers were knocked to the ground by the force of the tremors. Small cracks appeared in the Earth. It stopped as suddenly as it started, leaving everyone dazed and with lots of questions. Owen wondered if this had anything to do with the mandatory meeting that night.

**Well, that was…. I tried my best haha! Anyway I know it seems like **_**forever **_**since I updated, but I just got back from Aruba last night. So I finished the chapter today and here ya go :) Let me know what you think is happening (If you come close to the answer I will dedicate the next chapter to you) Review and let me know what you think of this chapter.**


	6. The One With The Prophecy

**This chapter is dedicated to Rachael torie b for getting closest to the correct answer in response to the question at the end of the last chapter.**

**If anybody is looking for a story to read, TheVaultBlocker has a great story called ****SYOC: The Quest for the Ancients**** which features a character by yours truly.**

**And I know the prophecy is ridiculously long. I'm sorry about that haha**

The Amphitheater was packed with campers all uncomfortably seated on the stone benches in their cabin's designated section. Even if the sing-a-long hadn't been mandatory, the whole camp would have still probably attended. Everyone wanted answers. The demigods hadn't seen the sun in days and now that the earth had started shaking, people were all but demanding the reason.

The fire burned a bright, almost yellow color and roared tall as the voices of all the campers came together in song. The Apollo Cabin had just finished leading the other half-bloods in a rendition of 'You're a Grand Old Camp' and were starting a round of a camp favorite, 'On Top of Olympus'.

"_On top of Olympus_

_Way up in the air,_

_There are many gods, _

_And they each have a chair_

_In a big 'ol throne room,_

_Where they argue and bicker_

_And don't do much else,_

_But give us brothers and sisters."_

The tune went on for many verses and every demigod at camp knew each word by heart. It was the favorite song and it was performed at every campfire despite Chiron constantly trying to discourage the campers from singing it, he claimed it insulted the Gods, but nobody listened. The song came to an end in uproarious laughter and applause. When the noise died down, Chiron stood up. The murmuring and joking came to an abrupt end, and, perhaps for the first time ever, every single camper was quiet.

"I really appreciate you all being here for this announcement." The Centaur said solemnly, looking around. The once tall and bright bonfire now barely reached a height of five feet and was a pale orange color as the campers held their breath. Chiron continued, "As many of you have noticed, there has been some strange weather lately. The God's are upset, two of them more distraught than the rest. Zeus has been in a state of anger for a while now, as you can tell from the weather." He said, gesturing to the cloud covered night sky. "He has had something stolen from him. He has accused Hades of thievery. Hades also claims to have had an item stolen and believes it to be by the hands of Zeus. He, too, is infuriated, leading to the violent tremors earlier." He let out a deep sigh. "They are threatening war."

A worried murmur went out amongst the younger campers, but the older half-bloods merely rolled their eyes. They knew that the Gods threatened war every couple of years or so, it usually fizzled out over time. Occasionally, whichever item was 'stolen' was found to have actually been misplaced all along.

"Normally I would not consider this a big deal, as many of you all know. However, there has been a prophecy." Said Chiron grimly. That got everyone's attention. Prophecies were few and far between now a days. A decade or so ago, in the time of Percy Jackson and Jason Grace, they seemed to come every year, and people began to think that was normal. But since the whole thing with the Roman camp was resolved ten years prior, there had only been three prophecies, and they hadn't ended well.

"Ms. Robertson, could you please enlighten us." Chiron said, looking to his left. The Oracle, a thirteen year old girl by the name of Jane Robertson, got up from her seat with the Apollo Cabin and walked to stand next to the centaur in the center of the Amphitheater.

"It came to me this morning." She said softly. She looked terrified. She probably was, it was the first prophecy she had ever spoken; the first time the Oracle of Delphi had ever borrowed her body. She tucked her straight blonde hair behind her ear.

"_The original blade taken shall be,_

_Each a part from two of three._

_A girl of light and boy of dark,_

_One of thunder and one of smarts,_

_The last recruit is one of the heart._

_A new formed group together start_

_A quest, but heed, for the lover is first,_

_And the dreamer will bring the best and worst._

_The last task shall be the truest test._

_One stands alone to save the rest,_

_And only together shall they prevail,_

_To stand as one or surely fail._

_If defeat is the end, all beware,_

_Destruction is certain by earth and air."_

Jane eerily recited the words in a soft, monotonous voice. When she was finished, she quickly returned to her spot with the Apollo cabin.

"We haven't been told what was stolen, but-"Chiron started before being cut off.

"I want to take part in the quest." Said Katie who had stood up at the words _'girl of light'_. "I mean, I fit the description, light comes from the sun." Before Chiron could answer, another voice rang out.

"I also volunteer for the quest. My father is involved with this and it makes sense that the '_boy of dark' _part is about me since I am the only son of Hades at camp." The sound came from the opposite side of the stadium. Aaron stood looking determined.

"I'm going too, then." Announced Owen, standing up. "It's my father who had something stolen from him, and I believe I am the '_One of thunder'_." He scanned the crowd, as if daring someone to contradict him.

Chiron was about to say something, probably against the idea of these two specific people traveling to Gods knows where together, but he was cut off once again.

"I'll go!" Eleven year old Chelsea Ronaldo, daughter of Nike, was still seated, but had her hand raised above her head. Chiron gave the girl a small smile.

"I'm sorry Chelsea, but after a quest a couple of years ago resulted in a massive Hurricane, the rule is only campers who are fifteen years or older are allowed to participate in a quest." Chelsea lowered her hand at Chiron's words, looking crestfallen.

"How about me then?" Sky questioned, looking directly at the centaur. "I'm _'of smarts'_. And with so many impulsive, 'act now, think later', people joining this quest, they're going to need someone to be the voice of reason." Chiron nodded at this. He then looked at the Aphrodite cabin for the last volunteer. Most of the girl's squirmed uncomfortably in their seats and the boys stared at the ground probably, for the first time in their lives, wishing everyone wasn't staring at them.

"Obviously the prophecy is talking about me." Chuck said, rolling her eyes. Chiron actually let out a small chuckle at her words.

"I guess that is settled. Everyone, lights out is in 15 minutes. As for the five volunteers, meet me at the big house after breakfast tomorrow."

_(16 Minutes Later)_

Demigod dreams sucked and being the child of Apollo, the god of prophecies, Katie had more 'demigod dreams' than most other half-bloods. They really were the worst thing about being a demigod. Maybe even worse than the whole getting attacked by monsters in public thing because in that scenario, at least you could fight back. Unlike in dreams where there was really nothing that you could do.

Katie was standing in a large room. How she knew it was a room, she wasn't sure, since all around her was darkness. She strained her eyes, trying to make out what was in front of her. She could sense the presence of something powerful not far off. Suddenly there was an urgent pulling on her arm. She looked to find Aaron trying to tug her away from the darkness-cloaked figure. Aaron's shirt was ripped and red with blood, Katie noticed. He also wasn't looking at her, behind him, Sky and Chuck, each with weapons drawn, were, like Aaron, staring up at the ceiling.

Katie followed their gaze. Above her head, about fourteen feet in the air, was Owen. His limbs hung limply and he looked as if he were being held up by a cord tied to his stomach. But there was no cord. He was floating.

He was also glowing.

It was a beautiful sight in the most terrifying of ways. His body was radiating a gold light; it _looked_ warm, as if it were sunlight. But it wasn't sunlight. It buzzed, like concentrated energy, and Katie, two stories below him, could feel it vibrating in her bones.

The tugging on her arm grew more urgent. Aaron was now looking at her, his eyes pleading. She had never seen him like this before. Scared.

She glanced back up at Owen. Katie couldn't see his face, but she could hear his screams of pain. No mortal could hold that much energy, not for long anyway. She knew she should run, that her friends should run.

But Owen was her friend, too.

He needed her help, but how could she get to him. She tried to tell Sky, Chuck, and Aaron to go without her. Tried to tell them that she would get Owen and meet up with them.

But her voice wouldn't work. And even if it had, she knew, knew in her soul, that she could never save him.

_Make a choice, half blood. One or all, Katherine. One or all._

The thing in the shadows spoke in her head. She looked at her friends standing next to her. Aaron looked like he wanted nothing more than to be far away from there. There were dark bags under his eyes and he was fidgeting more than Katie had ever seen, his fingers twitching nervously. Chuck stared at her best friend floating far above her head, very un-Chuck-like tears silently running down her face. And lastly Katie looked at Sky, who's clear and calculating, albeit worry filled, eyes clearly knew the most logical choice and knew what it would mean.

All the while Owen's screams of agony pierced her ears.

Katie felt the hot tears gather in her eyes. How could she possibly choose? She needed more time. She _needed_ to save_ everyone. _She_ needed _to_._

And then, Owen exploded in a blaze of golden fire and Katie awoke with a start.

_(The Meeting)_

"You're late." Pointed out Aaron as Katie entered the Big House meeting room. She looked at him with eyes like daggers, letting out a breath that said 'I am trying very hard to contain my urge to jam a sharp object into your throat'.

"No offense, but you look awful." Pointed out Chuck, who probably never in her entire life had that sentence used to describe her.

"Yeah, well, I didn't get much sleep last night." Katie mumbled in response, gripping her mug of coffee so tightly that her knuckles were white. She walked quickly across the room, avoided looking at Owen, and sat down next to Sky, resting her head on her friend's shoulder.

"So, now that we're all here, let's get started." Chiron instructed, standing in the front of the room. "I have my suspicions about the first two lines of the prophecy. _'The original blade'_ is in reference to the Harpe." At Chiron's words, Sky gasped, but Owen spoke up first.

"That's what Perseus, the original one, used to cut off Medusa's head, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but before that it's what Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades used to kill Kronos." Sky informed everyone in the room.

"It was also the blade which Kronos used to castrate Ouranus." Chiron spoke as if he were giving a lecture on history and not as if he had just told the group of teenagers that the first blade, the one that could not only kill titans, but harm the sky itself, had gone missing and that they were responsible for bringing it back.

"Are you _kidding me?!"_ Exclaimed Katie. "Do you know how dangerous it's going to be to have that with us!? Every monster in a fifty mile radius is going to be able to find us no matter where we are!"

"Kitty Roberts, please calm down." Said Mr. D, who had been quietly sulking in the corner until now. "There is no need for raised voices."

"It's Katie Rogers."

"And she has a right to be freaked out. We all do!" Added Sky.

"See, now you've got Skip all worked up." Mr. D sighed. Sky gave him an 'are you serious with that name' look.

"As for the '_each a part from two of three'_ line," Said Chiron, trying to redirect the conversation back toward its goal. "My belief of the meaning only reinforces the idea of the stolen Harpe. After the Big Three used the blade to cast their father into Tartarus, they broke it into two parts. Zeus was given the sword end and Hades took the sickled end."

"Wait, so was Poseidon alright with not getting a piece?" Asked Chuck.

"Not quite, Charles." Said Mr. D, who was not looking at Chuck but was instead staring at his hands. Chiron elaborated for the benefit of all those involved.

"Well, no, but as the most- uhh- level headed of the three, he understood demanding a part of the blade would mean certain war."

"But, since they each have half of the full weapon, what if Zeus and Hades started working together and turned on Poseidon?" Aaron questioned, leaning forward in his chair to rest his elbows on the ping pong table that they were all seated around.

"Ha!" Scoffed Mr. D. "Zeus and Hades working together?! That's a good one, Arnold Martin! And they say Hades' kids have no sense of humor." The god said, shaking his head.

"It is unlikely, besides, while broken the pieces are just a regular sword and sickle. It is only when they are reformed into one weapon that it is truly dangerous. For that to happen, all three gods must be present and willing. So, the other two would need Poseidon even though he doesn't have a part of the Harpe."

"What is with the last couple of lines? The part about one standing alone to save everyone else? Well, that's all well and good, but then they _very next line_ says that the only way to win is to stand together." Owen asked, fist hitting the table.

"To me it sounds like someone is going to die." Said Aaron matter-of-factly. Katie let out a small squeak.

"Prophecies often have many interpretations, but only one true meaning. I'm sad to say that you may not discover the true context until you are experiencing the foretold events." Said Chiron, looking genuinely sympathetic.

"Well, we better figure it out because according to the last two lines, if we don't get this stuff back in time, the whole world is going to go to Hell… Literally." Chuck stated, raising one eyebrow and looking at her quest mates. "By the way, when exactly is 'back in time'? How long do we have?"

"Zeus has said that if the blade has not been returned to him in a week and a half, he will declare war." Chiron said gravely.

"Great so we have ten days." Said Chuck optimistically. "Not ideal, but not as bad as it could be." It was painfully obvious that she was forcing her sunny outlook. Everybody looked incredibly worried. Deadlines were never good. It always added pressure on an already stressful situation.

"It would be better if it were like a month or something." Said Aaron under his breath.

"Yeah, you know what? It would be better if you would take your unhelpful comments and shove them up your-" Started Chuck.

"The first thing we need is a place to start." Interjected Sky, always the voice of reason.

"I mean, the prophecy specifically stated that '_the lover is first'_. So where is Aphrodite at this time of the year?" Asked Aaron. "I mean I can tell you were her daughters are, but-"

"Enough, Mr. Merton." Interrupted Chiron. Aaron just shrugged.

"It doesn't even matter. The prophecy isn't talking about her anyway. Aphrodite wouldn't want a war. They're not glamorous and she has no interest in such depressing situations." Said Chuck, a little edge to her voice.

"Then who is the lover?" Asked Katie, still nursing her mug of coffee.

"Eros?" Suggested Sky. Chiron gave a thoughtful nod.

"Fine, but that still doesn't tell us where we need to go." Pointed out Owen.

"Well, Oliver, where would one look for a god of love? In the City of Love of course!" Said Mr. D, surprisingly helpful.

"I guess we're going to New Orleans." Said Sky.

_(Page Break)_

Chiron had instructed the five half-bloods to return to their cabin and pack for the quest. Chuck and Sky each headed back to their respective cabins. Owen headed down to the lake stating there was something he had to do if he wasn't going to be back for a while. He left smiling to himself and muttering something about naiads.

Aaron started to walk away as well.

"Wait, Aaron, I was wondering if I could talk to you about something." Said Katie. "So the other night-"

"Wait, this isn't about feelings and stuff because I don't do that."

"Umm- gross. I was just going to ask that you not tell anybody. If you do, I will actually kill you." Katie said. Aaron stared at her for a moment.

"Yeah, whatever." He then turned away, probably left to go harass some poor girl.

"What happened the other night?" Said a voice from behind Katie, causing her to jump. She turned around and found herself face to face with Arthur. All the sudden the back of her neck felt really hot.

"Umm- I was going to tell you. It's really not a huge deal bu-" She started saying, but was cut off.

"Well, clearly it is a big deal since you asked him not to talk about it. What happened, Katie?"

"It was just- I was really drunk and I think I thought he was you and we kind of kissed and I'm so sorry, Arthur, truly I am." She said all in one breath.

"You what?! Katie how could you be so stupid?"

"I'm not stu-" 

"How could you do that to me?! I'm your boyfriend!"

"Well, you're not technically my boyfr-"

"And you weren't going to tell me. You know you weren't, or you would have already."

"I was! I prom-"

"And with _him_?! He's such an ass! He pulls this shit all the time with girls, too. I mean you've even seen him do it! You're just another dumb girl to him, Katie, don't you understand? Just another name on his list. I can't believe you were so stupid, I know you were drunk, but still and worst of all you probably just let him, didn't you? Besid-"

"Hey!" She cut him off, hands balled into fists. "First of all, I'm not stupid or dumb, so _stop _saying that. And second of all, I didn't _let _him do anything, _I _am the one who kissed _him_." She wasn't sure if that last part was a lie or not, but Arthur had struck a chord and she got a great deal of satisfaction from seeing the look on his face.

"We're over." He spat at her before storming off.

"We were never even under or whatever." She called after him angrily. Katie heard the screen door of the Big House open.

"What was all that yelling?" Asked Chiron, looking at the teenage girl with concern. She looked at him through tearless, red rimmed eyes.

"It was nothing." She sighed.

"Well, you better hurry and get packed then. You will be leaving in a couple of hours. And remember, casual clothes are to be worn only, no camp shirts." He told her. Katie nodded at his words and set off back to her cabin.

**So I know it's been forever since I updated and I'm sorry! But as a treat for being such amazingly awesome readers, I created a polyvore collection of the casual outfits of the five main questers. It can be found on my profile :D. I know it was a boring chapter, but I had to get the prophecy and planning out of the way so the actual quest could start. Also if you don't have a character in the five halfbloods on the quest don't worry. There will be flashbacks, iris messages, and maybe a couple of 'back at camp' chapters. So don't worry :) **


	7. The One With The Predatory Bird

**Sorry for taking so long to update! Anyway here you go. The first 'monster' will be introduced in the next chapter so yeah, look out for that. Anyway leave a review- it's greatly appreciated. Also, this is totally unrelated to anything else, but does anybody watch Teen Wolf? That season premiere was intense! Just thought I'd share hahah! So yeah without further ado: Chapter 5.**

_(Leaving)_

"And he just yelled at you. Just let you have it?"

"Yup."

"That's a little harsh." Sky said, disapprovingly.

"Nah, I got off easy. If it were the other way around, he would probably be missing a limb." Katie said grimly. "I mean I cheated on him. I did, like, the worst thing that you could do."

Sky cocked an eyebrow. "Really, Katie? The worst thing that you could do? Don't be dramatic. And please don't spend the whole trip wallowing in self-pity and loathing. You'll make it down right unbearable." She finished, her tone blunt and authoritative.

The two girls sat atop Half-Blood Hill, underneath Thalia's tree. They each had a backpack lying next to them on the ground, filled with clothing and weapons. They were instructed to bring anything they would definitely need, but to pack sparingly since they would be moving from place to place often. No camp shirts on quests was a pretty serious rule, not that either of the girls were complaining. Sky wore jeans and a loose coffee colored top. She also had tall boots on. Katie constantly made fun of her for wearing them in the summer, but Sky liked them. First of all, they looked great, but also they were practical. She had a knife hidden in each one. Katie also wore jeans, but instead of boots she wore converse. She had a loose fitting t-shirt and a beanie.

"So I never got to ask you. Is everything okay with you? During Capture the Flag, when you froze, I just- I mean you hadn't had an episode in such a long time and I didn't mean to-"

"Katie, its fine. It's awful and terrifying, but it's fine. Really. I just have to deal." Sky said. Katie nodded, but eyed her friend suspiciously.

"Hey, guys! You ready?" Asked Chuck, making her way up the hill towards them. The blue highlights in Chuck's hair was amplified by the deep red color of her crop top. Her flat stomach was exposed for a couple of inches before her skin was covered once again by her dark denim cutoff shorts. "I'm so excited! I've already said good bye to Juliette and promised to iris message her often. But can you believe it? A quest! It's kind of just hit me."

The other two girls just stared at her. They had never seen her so excited. As she spoke her voice started to take on an accent. Irish, maybe. Before either one could ask about it.

Aaron arrived next, his bag slung over his shoulder and a gleam in his eyes. "Wait until you see!" Was all he said. Only moments later, Owen appeared with a backpack and a large predatory bird.

"Nope. No. You are not bringing your eagle. Are you crazy?!" Said Katie, standing up.

"Yeah, I'm going to veto the large carnivorous bird." Added Sky.

Owen looked at Chuck for support. She shifted her weight uncomfortably.

"We are going in a van and it might be dangerous to have Aita in there with us." She said, looking at her friend apologetically.

"She wouldn't be in the van with us! She would fly alongside of it!" He scoffed.

"Cause that won't attract attention." Said Aaron under his breath.

"No bird." Sky said again. Owen sighed and remembered the saying about picking your battles. He shrugged his shoulder and Aita flew off. In the back of his mind he knew that she would find them, so he wasn't too upset about it. He would let the others think that they won.

"Now that that is settled, who's driving?" Asked Sky, gesturing to the van at the bottom of the hill.

"I may be a summer camper, but I'm from New York City, so I never learned." Said Katie with a shrug.

"Well, I'm from L.A. and we can drive there. I got my license a couple of months ago."

"Oh, great! That makes me feel real safe knowing our driver is so experienced." Said Chuck sarcastically.

"I can drive, too." Said Owen proudly. Most year rounders never learned to drive until after they left camp for good, but he had asked Chiron so many times that the centaur had finally caved, having one of the counselors teach him last summer.

"Ok, well I can drive first and then we will switch off whe-" He was cut off as a figure came running over to them.

"I'm glad I caught you!" Said Garreth, catching his breath. "I just wanted to see you off." He said holding his hand out for his brother to shake. Owen clasped his brother's hand in his.

"Just hold down the fort until I get back. I won't be gone for too long, so you couldn't do anything too drastic if you do mess up." Owen told the younger halfblood. Gar's face fell at his brother's words, then changed to an emotionless expression.

"Yeah, sure." He responded. Owen turned and started walking toward the van. Katie placed a hand on Gar's shoulder.

"Don't worry about anything. He's just Owen, ya know? That's not how he meant it." She assured the son of Zeus. Garreth nodded.

"I'm not even mad, not really. He's still my brother even though he's an ass. I just want him, everyone, to come back." He said.

"You're a good guy, Garreth. Everything will be fine. Don't worry too much. And keep practicing your soccer skills! We'll team up when we get back and will crush your brother." Katie said with a laugh. Gar laughed, too.

"Will do!"

Garreth walked back down the hill toward camp. Katie headed the other direction, away from the only place she called home, to start a journey that she might not come back from.

_(Driving)_

They had been driving for hours. The monotony of the highway had lulled half of the questing party to sleep. Sky had dozed off first, head resting against the left back seat window. An hour or so passed before Chuck, too, had finally succumbed as well, head resting on Owen's shoulder. Owen quickly followed suit, his chest rising and falling methodically, mouth slightly open. Classic rock music played softly from the radio.

Katie hugged her knees to her chest, head resting against the passenger side window. She couldn't fall sleep, she was too anxious about what was to come and too scared of what she might dream. She picked her head up and looked over at Aaron. One of his hands was resting lazily on the wheel as he lightly nodded his head along to the music. Katie let out a breath.

"What's your family like?" She asked, resting her chin on her knees. Aaron looked at her for a moment, surprise on his face, before turning back to watch the road, his expression once again stoic.

"You don't have to do that."

"What?"

"Fill the silence."

Katie raised an eyebrow. "I'm not filling anything. I was just asking a question."

"And you don't have to try to 'get to know me' just so you can validate what we did. We made out; it was no big deal." He said. Katie turned around in her seat to make sure the three half-bloods behind them were still sleeping. They all were. She turned back around to face the front, not looking at Aaron.

"I'm not doing that either." She sighed. "Look, I have trouble trusting people. Sky, Felix, maybe Matt, but that's it, those are the only people I truly trust in the whole entire world. If we are going to be on a quest together, I'm probably going to have to trust you with my life. I need to know you to trust you."

There was an extended pause.

"What about Arthur?" Asked Aaron finally.

"What about him?" 

"You don't trust him?"

Katie opened her mouth to answer, and then closed it. She closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip. "I don't want to talk about him right now."

There was another long silence.

"I have a mom and a younger brother. My mom, well, you've probably heard of her. She's a famous supermodel." Aaron said in a tone that sounded almost bitter. His once lazily set hand gripped the steering wheel tightly. "Matthew, he's thirteen, he's- he's a little drastic. I control him as much as I can when I'm there, but when I'm at camp I just-" He stopped talking abruptly. "I worry sometimes, is all."

He expected Katie to say that his brother wasn't his responsibility or that all that matters is that he's trying or any other bullshit response he always seemed to get when he explained his family. Instead, she simply nodded.

"Yeah." She said thoughtfully. "I worry about them when I'm at camp, too." Katie seemed to be speaking, not to Aaron, but rather to herself.

"You have siblings?" He questioned. Again, she nodded.

"Carter and Becca. They're twelve and ten. Sometimes I worry about what Adam says about me when I'm gone. I worry about whether they'll ever start to believe him." She said, then started chewing on her lip once again.

"Adam?"

"My mother's husband."

"You're step-father."

"I guess."

Aaron sighed and said, almost wistfully, "Having someone, no matter who they are, is better than having absolutely no one."

"I guess." She said again, though this time the edge to her voice had softened and her tone was a thoughtful one.

There was another long pause, although this one was not uncomfortable.

"Tell me a secret about yourself. Something no one else knows." Said Katie, thoughtfully.

"No, we're not there yet."

"Oh, come one. One little secret!" When Aaron shook his head, Katie continued. "Please? Please? Please? Please? Please? Plea-"

"Fine! Fine. I can Shadow Travel. There, you happy?"

"Really?!" Katie asked in honest amazement. "That's so cool!"

"Yeah, I just don't like telling people because they always ask you for something once the find out."

Katie looked at her hands. "No, yeah, I totally get that."

"So, what about you. You owe me a secret." Aaron said with a crooked half smile.

Katie thought for a moment. "It's kind of embarrassing." She started. "Maybe it's cause my dad is the sun God or whatever, but, uhh, I'm scared of the dark." 

Aaron stole a glance at her, eyebrow raised. A couple of minutes went by before either of them spoke again.

"I'm sorry about you and Arthur." Aaron said abruptly. "I didn't mean for that to happen, I jus-"

"You didn't, like, take advantage of me or anything." Her words were rushed and awkward. When she spoke again her words were clearer, her tone serious. "I was an equal part in what happened. There are consequences for every choice we make."

"Still, I'm sorry how it ended between you two." He said quietly. Aaron then reached forward and turned the radio volume up slightly. Katie took the hint that the conversation was over and closed her eyes, willing herself to go to sleep. Praying to her father for a dreamless night.

_(Driving part 2)_

Owen and Aaron had switched about half an hour ago. He sat in the driver's seat talking with Chuck who sat in the passenger's seat.

"So, do you think we'll be able to do it? Finish the quest, I mean." Asked Chuck. Owen let out a low laugh.

"Of course! I'm here and I never lose." He said confidently. Chuck rolled her eyes.

"Have you had any dreams about the quest? I haven't. The Gods are utterly useless, as soon as we need something they do the exact opposite. No wonder they rely on a bunch of teenagers to do their dirty work. They're practically incompetent." Grumbled Chuck. She really didn't think highly of the Gods.

"I've been having this one dream. But I have _no idea_ what it could mean. I'm flying, but I'm not moving, it's more like floating, really. I'm staring at a ceiling and it's dark. Then I feel something. It's like this buzzing in my chest and it feels _so good_ at first, but then it gets to be too much. It's awful and painful and then all I can see is gold, like intense sunlight, everywhere." He had been talking very fast; he paused to catch his breath. "And then I wake up."

Chuck looked thoughtful for a second. "Yeah, I have no clue what that could mean." She said with a shrug. Owen just shook his head. He then checked his rearview mirror. In it he could see the three demigods in the back seat, all fast asleep.

"So what do you think about our little questing group."

"I think we're all good fighters. I think I may kill Merton before we get anything done and that would be bad since it would probably slow us down. Its good Sky is here. She's is reasonable and calm among all these strong personalities."

"Yeah, I figured."

"What?"

"That you would be glad that the daughter of Athena was here."

"What does that mean?"

"Oh, come on, Chuck. You like her."

"Yeah, she's nice."

"No, you _like _her. Or at least you're starting to. I've been able to tell since Capture the Flag that you're look at her differently. You thought she was interesting anyway because you like the challenge of quiet people, but now you know she is a little bit broken, too. It's only a matter of time."

She furrowed her brow, angry that he knew her so well. "Oh, shut up."

"I could help you take your mind off of it." Owen said, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"Yeah, no thanks. We tried that. It didn't work out."

"It only didn't work out because you met Juliette."

"It still wouldn't have worked out between us. You're too much like me."

"All I was doing was offering to be a good friend and distract you from your confused feelings." He said, feigning humility.

"Ok, now, I'm going to sleep. That bit you in the ass didn't it?" She poked him in the shoulder. And maneuvered her body in her seat to find the most comfortable position and shut her eyes.

**Also if you guys want any specific monsters or to see something happen with a specific character or a flashback or **_**anything **_**just let me know! I will do anything I can to make you guys happy! Just PM me your request!**

**Kassidy :)x**


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